Post on 22-Jan-2022
Career Development is Everyone’s Business.
South-Southwest MHTTC
June 25, 2021
Successfully Integrating Individual Placement & Support (IPS)
Supported Employment & Education Best-Practices
for Older Youth & Young Adults in your Community Mental Health Center
Presenters
Laura Stevens (she/her), M.Ed., LPC
Lead Clinical Trainer, Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences’
Center for Youth Mental Health, The University of
Texas at Austin
Vanessa Vorhies Klodnick (she/her), PhD, LCSWDirector of Research & Innovation, Thresholds
Youth & Young Adult Services, IL & Faculty @
UT-Austin TIEMH
Eshawn Spencer (she/her)Director of Employment and
Community Initiatives at Anixter Center, IL; Previous Director of IPS Employment,
Thresholds, IL
Special Guest! Marc Fagan, PsyD
VP of Clinical Operations, Thresholds Youth &
Young Adult Services, IL
Learning Objectives
• Describe why IPS is an evidence-based practice.
• Identify 8 Principles of IPS.
• Distinguish IPS practices unique to young adults.
• Take away developmentally-attuned engagement &
support strategies.
• IPS stands for Individual Placement &
Support
• Why was IPS created?
• Learn more: www.ipsworks.org
• What is the evidence for IPS?
• 8 IPS Principles
• IPS Fidelity Scale
What is IPS Supported Employment?
8 IPS Principles
01
02
03
Zero exclusion
Rapid job search
Job preferences drive services
04
05
06
Benefits counseling
Follow-along supports
Integration of IPS into clinical services
07
08
Competitive employment
Job development
Evidence for Enhanced IPS with Young People
• Thresholds Study examined IPS with Supported Education + Near-Age Vocational Peer Mentors
+ Transition to Independence Process Model.
• Webinar: https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/sparc_multimedia/3/
• Ellison et al. (2014) describes IPS adaptations & outcomes: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-014-9445-4
• Klodnick et al. (2015) describes Vocational Peer Mentor role: https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426614565052
• UMASS SE/SED Study tested IPS + SE in 2 community mental health settings & produced a Young Adult IPS Manual & Fidelity Scale
• https://www.umassmed.edu/globalassets/transitionsrtc/publications/manuals/ips-se-for-transition-age-youth_-
final-2-6-20.pdf
• https://ipsworks.org/index.php/documents/ips-fidelity-scale-for-young-adults/
• UT-Austin enhanced IPS Implementation Study found that Supported Education is difficult to implement with IPS without dedicated funding. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31768929/
• IPS with First-Episode Psychosis Services: U.S. RCT by Nuechterlein et al., 2020; RCT of IPS & Skills
Training by Nuechterlein et al., 2008; Australia RCT by Killackey et al., 2018; Evaluation Study in
UK by Rinaldi et al., 2010
IPS Enhancements for Young Adults
• New Young Adult IPS Fidelity Scale
https://ipsworks.org/index.php/documents/ips-fidelity-
scale-for-young-adults/
• Supported Education Integration
• Career Development Focus
• Career-related internships are OK
• Assertive Engagement
• Leveraging social media for marketing & job
development
• Involving family proactively
Supported Education Specialist Role
• Increase Access: Effectively link young adults to educational programs within the training program, school, college, or university of their choice.
• Increase Retention: Provide services for students that support their needs so they can complete their educational program. (Do not replicate already available services.)
• Improve Long-Term Outcomes: Help students meet their professional & vocational goals with meaningful & productive employment opportunities.
Additional Critical Young Adult IPS Practice Enhancements
1. Discovery Focus
2. Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model
3. Strategic, creative developmentally-attuned engagement
4. Staff need to REALLY like working with young people
5. Address barriers, especially to supported education
6. Strong clinical-vocational cohesion & collaboration
7. Leverage lived experience & mutuality
Shift your Philosophy from:
Recovery Discovery
Treatment Goals
Career Goals
to
to
Career development, work & school are EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS.
Transition to Independence Process (TIP)
Employment & Career
Living Situation
Educational Opportunity
Functioning
Personal
Effectiveness
& Wellbeing
• Evidence-Informed
Positive Youth
Development Approach
• Empowers young people
to discovery their strengths
& interests to define their
goals.
• Transition Facilitator
engages key planning
partners to support a
young person’s goal
attainment.
www.TIPstars.org
1.Engage young people through Self-Discovery & rapport building.
2.Tailor services to assist in goal attainment across transition domains
3. Acknowledge and develop personal choice and responsibility
with young people.
4.Build and ensure a safety-net of support.
5.Enhance and build upon the young persons’ competencies.
6.Maintain an outcome focus in the TIP system at the young person,
program, and community levels.
7.Involve young people, parents, and other community partners
www.TIPstars.org
Transition to Independence Process (TIP)
Model Guidelines
Identify & hire staff who enjoy working with young people
• LOVE working with young people & families (&
friends, teachers, etc.)
• Key characteristics: Patient, Flexible, Creative, &
Strong communicator with young people (& others)
• You will do more with & for young people.
• Cannot take a young person’s actions personally.
• Need to “go to” rather than wait for a call or text.
• Desire & willingness to partner with young person’s
social network.
Engage in Targeted, Tailored & Persistent
Outreach
• Educate your program (aka clinical staff), young
people & families about IPS.
• Connect with young person ASAP once interest
or referral occurs.
• Be extra assertive with engagement with young
people & clinical partners.
• Find out where the young adults are at your
agency. Be in those spaces & places.
• Keep connecting. Do not give up. Be available.
Address Legitimate Barriers
• Assumption of understanding employment culture & job expectation basics
• Family & teachers
• IPS need to document medical necessity as it relates to employment & education.
• Rural job market barriers
• Substance Use & Justice Involvement
• Inability Supported Education billing
• Time for Job/School Development
Support Strategic Integration
Mitigate
multidisciplinary
team hierarchy
Strong Role
Delineation
Build strong
working alliances
& communicate
what’s going on.
Leverage Lived Experience & Mutuality
Find ways to connect
young people who are
doing/have done great
with IPS with those who
are struggling.
Use your lived
experience as examples
to strengthen bond &
validate experience.
Partner with Peer
Support staff. Integrate
peer support staff.
We’re a community & we’re in it together.
Want to learn more:Vanessa.Klodnick@thresholds.org
Eshawn.Spencer@thresholds.org
laura.stevens@austin.utexas.edu
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?